ESTABLISHMENT WINS: Former Obama Labor Secretary Tom Perez Elected New Chair Of DNC

The race for the chair of the DNC is over and Tom Perez won. Perez was Secretary of Labor under Obama. He also represents the establishment wing of the Democratic Party which means this decision is going to make the far left base very angry.

Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez has defeated Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) to become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee in a blow to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the progressive wing of the party.

Perez won with 235 votes on the second ballot, with 218 votes needed to reach a majority. He fell just shy in the first ballot, totaling 213.5 votes.

The win came after Perez failed to clear the threshold required to win the first vote by only one ballot.

Vice President Biden and other key figures from the Obama administration supported Perez, who backed Hillary Clinton in the primary.

Sanders and many of his allies backed Ellison, the first-ever Muslim elected to Congress and a star on the left. Several Ellison supporters told The Hill this week that they are unsure if they can back Perez.

The race to become the next Democratic Party leader split along establishment-grassroots lines and in many ways mirrored the divisive 2016 presidential primary between Sanders and Clinton.

Left wing activists are going to have a hard time with this.

Perez does not represent the kind of change they wanted in leadership.